Pearl Harbor is a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii, and was the scene of a devastating surprise attack by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. Just before 8 a.m. on that Sunday morning, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended on the base, where they managed to destroy or damage nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and over 300 airplanes. More than 2,400 Americans died in the attack, including civilians, and another 1,000 people were wounded. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan.

From Rewordify

Pearl Safe place (for boats) is a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii, and was the scene of aterrible and destructive surprise attack by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. Just before 8 a.m. on that Sunday morning, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes moved downward/originatedon the base, where they managed to destroy or damage nearly 20 American naval ships, including eight huge fightships, and over 300 airplanes. More than 2,400 Americans died in theattack, including people not in the military, and another 1,000 people were wounded. The dayafter the attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan.

Tuesday, December 12, 2017

Imagine a group of preschoolers actively participating in a SMARTBoard lesson. From using clues to uncover the hidden object to sorting colors and shapes,these students had a great time. Special thanks to Mrs. Kristine for inviting me to her class.

Monday, December 11, 2017

Sean Fahey has it figured out- it takes a few clips and a few steps. But it works. Please see his post here and I’ve embedded the YouTube link as well. Looking for more suggestions? See this blog post from Eric Curts.

Sunday, December 10, 2017

I didn’t know this was the first acronym for STEM- something I learned reading this blog post from Discovery Education - 5 Resources Connecting STEM, the Arts, and the World. As well as a brief history of the evolution of STEM, it include hands on suggestions for your classroom. I was delighted to see Dr. Lodge McCammon’s paper slides highlighted.

Saturday, December 9, 2017

At the end of the year (both calendar and school), sometimes you might need something to engage your students. Instead of showing videos, check out the suggestions John Spenser makes in this blog post Ten Creative Alternatives to Showing Movies Before the Break . From Genius Hours to Wonder Days- I’m sure you will find a spark for your students.

Friday, December 8, 2017

It’s called the Ditch That Textbook Digital Summit from Matt Miller. There are nine video presentations from awesome presenters on topics related to tech and solid teaching and learning. Get your free ticket at: DitchSummit.com.

Last year I didn’t make all of them- but it was the place I really learned about HyperDocs. I would look through the list and select the ones of interest to you.

HOW IT WORKS: New presentations are released every day from Dec. 15-23. They remain available until Dec. 31 so you can re-watch or catch up on any you’ve missed. They’re pre-recorded, so you can watch them whenever you want until Dec. 31. After that, the summit ends and the videos are unavailable to watch anymore.

FREE PD HOURS: You can get FREE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CREDITS for watching the videos. There’s a form to fill out after each presentation, and you’ll get an automatic PD certificate emailed to you.

FREE CHROMEBOOKS: They’re giving away two free Acer Chromebook 15’s, courtesy of Acer Education, the giveaway sponsor. Be sure to join the Chromebook Crash Course session on December 22 to enter the drawing.

Wednesday, December 6, 2017

You and your class can join other students to learn about the winter celebrations! Here are the details:

Virtual Viewing Party: Holidays around the World

December 12 | 1:00PM ET

This season, #CelebrateWithDE and learn about the origins, significance, and traditions of some of the world’s most-beloved holidays! In this program, explore Hanukkah, the eight-day festival of lights observed in Judaism, Christmas, a secular and Christian holiday observed on December 25, Kwanzaa, a week-long holiday honoring African culture and values, and Lunar New Year, a 15-day festival celebrating the new year in the Chinese Lunar Calendar.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Kathy Renfrew (as a guest blogger for Alice Keeler) shares her experiences as a lifelong learner (and late in life career changes) here in this post. I could relate to parts of her story- after all I joined the teaching profession after 20+ years in another industry.

Friday, December 1, 2017

This post from Teach Thought has several suggestions for providing feedback on written work. From using a spinner to select what is graded to having students diagnose the issue, there is something for everyone (and every grade level). Please click here to read.

Monday, November 27, 2017

Now you can enhance your shapes with a drop shadow or a reflection. I added the purple shadow behind this image. You can change the color, transparency, and angle. Please check out the slide presentation by Mrs. Drasby here for her complete directions.

Friday, November 24, 2017

Happy Cyber Monday! On November 17, 2017, people everywhere will celebrate the special deals you can find online. While so many people are going online in search of goodies, we want to encourage our students to go online in search of the good: safe, accurate, secure, and – yes – fun and fascinating things. Use the selected resources below or the CyberMonday Digital Integration Kit (US subscribers only) to highlight cyber safety and security on Cyber Monday. Share your student work with us at #CelebrateWithDE.

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Alice Keeler is always a source of great information. In this blog post, she shares how you she can quickly find student slides in a collaborative process. While I use the Control F key to find data in spreadsheets all the time, I hadn’t thought how I could use it in this context.

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

When Google was first rolled out in the district, some folks might remember there was a search option that added photos to the sidebar. A few version later, this was gone. But now it is back. Click (in docs, drawings or slides) on Insert- Images- and a drop-down menu will appear. Select search, and the search bar will appear and your images down the side (please see my screenshot below).

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Not in Mrs. Swierczek’s class. On Veterans Day, her students used this SOS strategy to share their knowledge about the history of the day. Check out all the SOS options in your Discovery Education account (Select Professional Learning and then Strategies and Resources.)

Here’s a new SOS- I think you could use this in any grade and content.

Eye Spy

Visual literacy is the ability to interpret and make sense of visual information we encounter, including but not limited to information found in photographs, drawings and paintings. According to the article “Reading Images: An Introduction to Visual Literacy,” by Melissa Thibault and David Walbert, “The visually literate viewer looks at an image carefully, critically, and with an eye for the intentions of the image’s creator.”

In order to develop visual literacy skills, students need structured opportunities to revisit an image multiple times as they carefully analyze it, noticing details and nuances that help them understand the context of the picture. The Eye Spy strategy scaffolds students through a structured analysis of an image, helping them see details that they would otherwise miss.

Materials: digital image, projector, timer, paper, writing utensils

Introduce this strategy to your students by explaining that they will be looking closely at an image for several short periods of time. Set the ground rules by explaining that you will give them specific things to look for, and that when the timer goes off they will be asked to write down what they’ve seen.

For the first viewing, set the timer for 10 seconds and reveal the picture.

Ask students to look for what the picture is about or what is happening in the picture.

When the timer goes off, cover the image and have them quickly jot down their thoughts and observations.

Have students quickly pair and share. Circulate through the room to encourage discussion.

Move on to the second viewing. Set the timer for 15 seconds and show the image again. This time ask students to look for more details in the image, such as:

Who are the different people in the picture and what are their roles?

What are they doing?

What event is taking place?

When the timer goes off, cover the image and have students quickly jot down their thoughts and observations.

Have students gather into groups of four and quickly share.

Move on to the third viewing. Set the timer for 30 seconds and show the image again. This time ask students to look for even more details. Prompt students with questions such as:

What is the setting?

What else do you see in the frame other than the focal point of the image?

When the timer goes off, cover the image and have students add to the notes they’ve already taken. Encourage small groups to debrief what they’ve added.

Move on to the last viewing. Set the timer for 45 seconds and show the image again. This time, ask students to look for evidence that helps them make inferences about what they see in the picture. Scaffold students by asking questions such as:

Why do you think the photographer took the picture?

What do you think is the story behind this picture?

What meaning did the photo have at the time it was taken?

Has that meaning changed for today’s audience?

Wrap up the exercise by asking students to discuss their ideas with the whole group. Be sure to have them justify their insights by using a sentence frame such as: “I think ……… because……….”

This strategy promotes the use of a carefully scaffolded process that helps students notice the details, foreground, and background of an image, as well as taking in the action, characters, and point of view of the image’s creator. Multiple viewings with specific things to look for will help students learn to view images with an analytical eye.

Saturday, November 18, 2017

Need that right font for a presentation or document? Try adding web fonts to your selections. Eric Curts provides step by step direction on where to find and how to add these fonts. Please click here for this post.

Friday, November 17, 2017

Kathy James shared this: “Kahoot has a cute Thanksgiving Day game set up.... we played it yesterday.... kids got a laugh and kept fact checking. The answers were right but surprising.” This might be something you can use next week- access Kahoot and you will find several games.

No, I’m not talking about old-fashioned technology but rather the preview of Google Slides you see on the left-hand side of your screen. More than just a list of your slides, there are many features you can use. Check out this post from Alice Keeler for all the details.

Thursday, November 16, 2017

Looking for a great interactive resource to engage your students?!? Check out this NEW interactive board created using Discovery Education's brand new STUDIO! Make the board editable and share the link with your students so they can collaborate and edit within the board. I would love to see example of student work, so please post a comment with your versions of the board.

This digital integration box focuses on one of the classic stories of an early Thanksgiving feast shared by the Wampanoag and the Pilgrims. It is appropriate for all grade levels. We've curated video, text, and interactive resources about this classic Thanksgiving story and added effective instructional strategies that support literacy development and student learning.

Wednesday, November 15, 2017

Can you guess the animal? All you need is a microphone (and you only get 20 yes or no questions). Visit Google’s Mystery Animal page and try your thinking skills. Want more ideas on how you could use this in your classroom? Please see the blog post from Eric Curts. (Warning- I think this could be addictive!)

Shout it out! is one of my favorite new SMART Notebook activities- it gives voice to all students.You will find this under the SMARTLab (the little blue monster). Here’s a quick video. (Just as an FYI- everyone has access to this latest SMART Notebook via your virtual desktop.)